Fred Flintstone
Frederick Joseph "Fred" Flintstone, once known as Fred W. Flintstone, is the main character of ''The Flintstones'', as well as the husband of Wilma and father of Pebbles. He is best friends with Barney Rubble, his next-door neighbor. Fred lives in the fictional prehistoric town of Bedrock, at 345 Cave Stone Road (in some episodes, 1313 Cobblestone Way or 222 Rocky Way), an anachronistic world where dinosaurs coexist with modernized barefoot cavemen and the cavemen enjoy "primitive" versions of modern conveniences such as telephones, automobiles, and washing machines. Fred Flintstone's catchphrase is "YABBA DABBA DOO!", which is also heard at the beginning of the theme song and the film. Fred has since appeared in various other cartoon spin-offs, live action adaptations and commercials. Personality and occupation Fred's personality was based on that of Ralph Kramden of the 1950s television series The Honeymooners and Chester A. Riley from The Life of Riley. Thus, much like Ralph, Fred tends to be loud-mouthed, aggressive, and constantly scheming ways to improve his family's working class lot in life, often with unintended results. Archie Bunker of All in the Family & Archie Bunker's Place and George Jefferson of The Jeffersons also have similar personalities based on Fred Flintstone. Fred is a typical blue-collar worker, who works as a "bronto crane operator" at Slate Rock and Gravel Company (also known as Rockhead and Quarry Cave Construction Company in the earliest episodes). However, when their children become teenagers, Fred and Barney join the Bedrock police force. Fred and Barney even coached two baseball teams as well. The Flintstone family came from "Arkenstone" where they had been engaged in a feud with the "Hatrock" family which had been caused by an ancestor of Fred's making a wisecrack of a Hatrock family portrait ("I don't know what the artist got for doing that painting but he should have gotten life"). In "The Bedrock Hillbillies", the feud is ended when Fred helps save a Hatrock baby (and Pebbles) from going over a waterfall only to start up again when Fred makes the very same wisecrack. In "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes", when the "Hatrock" family visited the Flintstone family and being friends, until when Bug Music was played & the Hatrocks can't stand the Bug Music. The last of the Arkenstone Flintstones was Fred's Great-uncle Zeke Flintstone. Other Flintstone relatives were Giggles Flintstone - a rich eccentric practical joker whose jokes drive Fred into a mad rage; an "Uncle Tex" and his sister "Aunt Jamima". Fred's interests include bowling, playing pool, poker and lounging around the house, and playing golf. At the first two of these, he is very skilled, as seen in one of the episodes where he plays against Wilma's unsuspecting mother. Fred has won championships with his incredible bowling skills. In "Bowling Ballet", he goes so far as to take ballet lessons in order to improve his game which led to his nickname "Twinkletoes". The nickname of "Twinkletoes" stuck with him when Fred attended a local college and became eligible to play on their football team, and it became his call sign. Fred is also an excellent golfer. In "The Golf Champion", he wins the championship only to have Barney repossess the winning trophy cup because Fred is behind in his dues. Fred, like Barney, was also a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffalos Lodge (named "the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs" in an early episode). Fred also has a serious gambling problem; the mere mention of the word "bet" causes Fred to stammer "bet" over and over again and go on gambling binges. The original series had several stories regarding TV with Fred as a dupe. In one, Fred makes a fool of himself trying to give Wilma acting lessons after she wins a TV appearance – only for the only part of her to appear on TV is her hands. In another, when Fred wins a TV appearance he tries to act like a "Stage parent" - until he comes down with stage fright. A third time Fred appears on a TV commercial in a non speaking role as a "before" picture of a person before going on a diet. Once, Fred even appeared in a movie, but merely as a stunt double. Fred's catchphrase "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!" (originally derived from the Brylcreem advertising jingle motto "A Little Dab'll Do Ya!"), becomes the subject of a song by Hoagy Carmichael that the singer-songwriter performs in an episode of The Flintstones. Fred's ability to carry a tune was quite good in his younger years. One early episode was where he did a jam with his musician friend "Hot Lips Hannigan", (with Barney, who is apparently a skilled drummer) where his singing caused teenage girls to swoon over him. In fact, in one of the earliest episodes, "The Girls Night Out", he recorded a demo record at a carnival of the song "Listen to the Mockingbird", which ended up making him a star whereupon he took the stage name of "Hi Fye" and toured for two weeks with Wilma, Barney, and Betty. Fred, as Hi Fye, was a hit until Wilma and Betty tired of road life and told teenagers the truth, that Fred was actually a square. As the series progressed, however, his voice became worse and worse, eventually to the point that his housekeeper quit rather than having to hear Fred sing. It was also referenced in the refrain of the 1989 George Jones song, "The King is Gone (And So are You)." Also in the Flintstones show credits, Fred would beat on the door and scream, "WILMA!" Due to his impulsive and short-tempered behavior and stubborn and naive nature, Fred Flintstone seems to be accident-prone. He is able to create the biggest confusion, even with the most innocent and mundane action. Fred is mainly a kind man, although he gets angry quite a lot, usually when Barney teases and annoys Fred, or even laughs at him by going. Ah heh heh heh heh heh heh. Other than that, Fred can have other emotions too. His laugh is Ho heh he he he he. He starts crying in some episodes, like The Babysitters, when Barney tears up the tickets, in Dino Dissappears, when Dino runs away, and The House that Fred Built, when Fred discovers that 1,000 bucks down the drain wasn't funny anymore. Positive Qualities Despite his apparently anti-social character, Fred's actions are shown to be usually free of any malice. And, although he almost constantly shouts and irritates the people around him, Fred proves to be a friendly person; often going out of his way to help someone. Although Fred often annoys Wilma with his immaturity, he proves to be a very caring and loving husband and father. Flintstone is even known to go to great lengths to please his family or apologize when he goes too far. Fred is also devoted to his daughter and cares for her more than Wilma herself. He can be overprotective with her at times though. Family According to "The Flintstone Kids" (which is non-canon), he is shown to be the son of Ed and Edna Flintstone. In its TV special, it is shown that he has a cool cousin from HollyRock who has a band of his own and not only doesn't use drugs, he is in a "Just Say No" club, eventually inspiring Wilma to start one of her own. Physical Appearance Fred is a portly caveman. He has black hair and a large nose. He wears an orange loin cloth with black spots and a blue tie. Appearances The Flintstones In this series, Fred is a bronto-crane operator at Mr. Slate's construction quarry, husband of Wilma Flintstone, and neighbor of his co-worker Barney Rubble. He lives in the anachronistic town of Bedrock. He wants to invent new things so he can end the Stone Age. In The Snorkasaurus Hunter, he adopts a talking dinosaur named "Dino" (with Wilma's persuasion). However, despite being able to talk in his debut, Dino instantly loses his ability to talk and becomes the dog-like pet we know and love. Later in the series, Fred became a father to Pebbles Flintstone, which helped die down his bad temper a bit, as he loves his daughter very much. Barney and Betty frequently visit Pebbles in a few episodes, but when Fred gets annoyed, he tells them to stay away from her. Soon, Barney and Betty find a young boy named Bamm-Bamm on their doorstep and adopt him, which causes Fred to make amends with Barney. Older Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Fred is also a major character in the (non-canon) spin-offs starring older versions of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. He resumes his bumbling parent and hothead role from the original series. The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show In this series, Pebbles grows into a beautiful teenager and becomes Bamm-Bamm's girlfriend. In this series, Fred and Barney are reduced to secondary characters and only appear a few times. I Yabba-Dabba Do! Fred and Barney start feuding and stop being friends. Upon finding out that Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are going to be married, they decide to end their feud and raise money for the wedding. However, things go from bad to worse when Wilma and her mother kick Fred out of his house and is fired from his job at the quarry. He and Barney decide to go to Rock Vegas to find Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. They locate Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm at a casino where Barney wins lots of money. However, the four are mistaken for thieves and are sent to jail. However, they are then proven innocent. Fred, Barney, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm finally return to Wilma, Betty and the others. Mr. Slate rehires Fred, Pearl and Wilma apologize to Fred for the mistake they made and the abuse they gave him and Pebbles and Bamm Bamm get married. At the end Pebbles and Bamm Bamm reveal they are moving to Hollyrock with Barney paying their way with his Rock Vegas winnings, at which Fred gets angry with Barney and they start to argue as the film ends. Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby Pebbles becomes pregnant and Fred is abotu to become a grandfather. However, as soon as they arrive, Fred, Barney, Wilma, and Betty start telling the kids what to do and how to do it. After running into some trouble with the law, Pebbles gives birth to twin babies, Chip and Roxy. Fred and the others return home and decide to leave Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm to take care of their children themselves. A Flintstone Family Christmas Fred gets into the Christmas spirit by hanging up decorations and being altogether joyful while awaiting the arrival of his daughter Pebbles, her husband Bamm-Bamm and their twin children, daughter Roxy and son Chip. After learning that they will arrive at 4pm, Fred and Barney leave to get their turkyssaurus for dinner. However, on the way back home they are mugged by a Santa. Fred hands over his wallet and watch and orders Barney to give him the bird, but while tossing the turkyssaurus the Santa "breaks" in half. Seizing the opportunity, the two run away from the mugger. When Fred and Barney get to the police station, they identify the thief, who turns out to be a "caveless" abandoned child named Stoney. According to the social worker, Stoney used to be the horror of foster homes because of his stealing habits. Feeling sympathy for Stoney, Wilma decides to adopt him, despite Fred's initial reluctance. They try to show Stoney that they trust him and attempt to teach him that stealing is wrong. However, things get slightly bleaker when Pebbles and her family get stuck in an airport because of a blizzard. The Rubbles and The Flintstones then go Christmas tree shopping, but can't afford any that aren't "smaller than their grandchildren". Stoney attempts to help by convincing people to bet on him as he plays a game in order to earn enough money for the Flintstones to buy the tree. When a man loses, he chases Stoney, who runs for cover near Fred. The man claims that Stoney cheated him, and Fred asks if this is true. Stoney then truthfully replies "no", and when Fred believes him, he gets hit in the head with a tree by the man. Fred then goes to the hospital, but his boss informs him that he can't participate in the Christmas parade (which is something Fred is quite eager to do since the beginning of the movie) and when he tries to protest, his boss finalizes his "no". To make it up to Fred, Stoney poses as his boss's driver and locks him up in the Flintstone's bathroom, which will allow Fred to participate in the parade. Instead, Fred saves his boss and ends up in jail, where he eventually bonds with Stoney. Fred even consoles Stoney that cutting corners to get what you want is not the solution. However, the social worker then takes Stoney away, and meanwhile Fred's boss makes him go to the parade. While there, Fred saves Stoney. At home Fred sees Pebbles and her family, and Stoney bonds with the twins. Fred says that the new addition to the family gets to put the star on the Christmas tree. Stoney thinks Fred is referring to Roxy and Chip, but it turns out it is him and he becomes a Flintstone. Bamm-Bamm helps him put on the star and they all have a happy Christmas. Gallery Click here for the Gallery Pebbles Cereal Fred and Barney are the mascots for Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles Cereal. In these commercials, Barney would try to steal his cereal using cheap disguises that Fred would easily fall for, despite being obvious it was Barney. Sometimes, there would be commercials that feature Fred and Barney as their normal, best buddy selves. In the stop-motion commercials, Barney no longer tries to steal Fred's pebbles. A running gag in the stop-motion commercials is that Barney doesn't add 64 pieces of Pebbles cereal to his spoon, he breifly turns into either a bird or a wooly mammoth. Recently, Fred and Barney have been replaced by sports stars and are just featured on the boxes. Their kids also hve become co-mascots with them. Quotes Fred Flintstone/QuotesCategory:Characters Category:Males Category:Fathers